Odoo is a modern business management platform created to help companies automate a wide range of operational processes and workflows. With 15 million users worldwide, Odoo is known for its intuitive interface, extensive customization potential, and software scalability. It includes a suite of modular applications combining ERP and CRM functionalities that address most business needs. Odoo offers around 50 core official applications that are regularly updated, along with more than 50,000 community-developed apps for extended functionality and customization.
The platform offers two editions – Odoo Community and Odoo Enterprise. Odoo Enterprise is built on top of the free Odoo Community edition, and both versions offer multiple applications that help companies automate their workflows and improve operational efficiency. Users can switch between the two editions at any time, regardless of which edition they initially chose.
In this article, experts from Itransition, a certified Odoo partner with a proven track record in providing Odoo services, break down the key differences between the two editions to help businesses determine which one best meets their requirements.
Understanding the key differences between Odoo Community & Enterprise
Licensing & TCO
Odoo Community is a fully open-source edition that requires no software licensing costs and can be set up, configured, and supported by your in-house engineering team or a third party. Although the Community edition does not require an annual Odoo subscription, you should still factor in the costs of solution hosting, customization, integration, security setup, and maintenance.
Odoo Enterprise comes with annual or monthly licensing fees and offers two plans: Standard and Custom. Regardless of the plan, Odoo Enterprise includes technical support and access to advanced features.
The Standard plan is available only with Odoo Online hosting and starts at $24.90 per user per month, billed annually. The Custom plan, which enables multiple hosting options, starts at $37.40 per user per month with annual billing.
Functionality
The Community edition offers a broad functional scope to support key business processes, including finance, supply chain, human resources, sales, and marketing. It also includes essential tools for inventory management, project management, and website creation and management, making it suitable for businesses seeking an integrated solution for diverse operations and workflows. Additionally, Odoo Community provides access to a wide range of free community-developed applications.
Odoo Enterprise adds advanced functionality on top of the Community edition. Among its many features, Odoo Enterprise provides comprehensive accounting tools, AI-powered invoice automation, integrated payroll and document management, a control panel for manufacturing management, and support for the Odoo IoT Box, which enables connecting IoT devices and capturing real-time data directly in the Odoo database.
Hosting & customization flexibility
Hosting is not provided with Odoo Community, therefore, companies need to host the solution themselves or turn to a third-party cloud provider. The Community edition offers complete customization freedom due to its open-source code, a vast library of community modules, and active developer support. You can tailor workflows, modify existing features, build custom modules, and integrate third-party tools without vendor lock-in risks, ensuring complete control over system design and functionality.
There are three hosting options for Odoo Enterprise adopters: Odoo.sh, Odoo Online, or deployment on their own infrastructure, either on-premises or cloud. In terms of customization flexibility, the Enterprise edition allows external API access, supports multi-company environments, and provides access to Odoo Studio. Odoo Studio enables modifying existing applications and creating new ones from scratch without programming expertise, simply by selecting the features required for your custom solution. As a no-code/low-code tool, it lets you customize app fields and menus with drag-and-drop, improve reporting with the XML editor, and define automated actions and triggers.
Support
Odoo Community does not include official vendor support. While adopters have access to community forums, ongoing maintenance and support must be handled in-house or outsourced to a trustworthy partner to keep the platform performing reliably and ensure successful user adoption.
Odoo Enterprise, on the other hand, offers unlimited functional support from Odoo specialists, along with regular version updates and prompt bug fixes to address any occurring software performance issues.
Platform supports & user experience
Odoo Community is primarily designed for desktop and web browser use. This edition does not provide official native mobile app support, but it can be accessed on mobile devices through a web browser. Third-party or community-developed apps may also be available, though they are not officially supported by Odoo. When it comes to navigating the solution, Odoo Community users start working in the Discuss app and use a drop-down menu to access multiple modules, which can be not user-friendly when working with many applications.
Odoo Enterprise is available across desktop, web, and mobile platforms, guaranteeing a smooth and consistent user experience. It also offers a dedicated dashboard that simplifies navigation, supports quick searches, and allows users to personalize their workspace for greater efficiency.
In conclusion
These five key differences between Odoo Community and Enterprise can help companies decide which edition aligns with their current and strategic business needs. When planning your project budget, keep in mind that both options involve expenses: Community requires investing in third-party or in-house engineering, while Enterprise requires an annual subscription fee along with potential costs for additional development and implementation.
If you look for basic ERP and CRM functionality, starting with the Community edition can be a practical solution. This option is also particularly suitable for businesses that plan to collaborate with an IT partner to customize the platform or have a strong in-house technical expertise to support solution implementation and maintenance.
For companies that seek advanced functionality out of the box, a seamless user experience, and comprehensive vendor support, the Enterprise edition could be the right option.
Regardless of the chosen Odoo edition, switching between the two options is straightforward, and you can easily adapt your Odoo platform to operational changes or rapid growth
